Friday Evening

March 27, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Lori had her final procedure this morning. The clot had dissolved a little further but not enough for there to be any circulation. So the doctor ballooned the vein and put in 3 stents. These will stay in permanently and will keep that part of the vein open. She has been moved out of ICU to a regular room. They will keep her here a couple more days while they do more testing to see if she has a blood disorder and get her coumadin level regulated again.

We of course are happy that she is through most of the danger part of trying to break up the blood clot and are relieved that the blood is now flowing in the more natural course through her body. As the doctor said, she will have to learn to manage her condition. She can live a fairly normal life as long as she stays on coumadin and wears support hose from now on. One thing the doctor mentioned is, ” about the worst thing she can do is fly on airplanes”. We know God has plans for her and He will have to guide her through any adjustments she may have to make.

She now will begin the long road recovery, approximately 8 weeks. Once she’s released from the hospital here in Spokane, we will be taking her to Kalispell where she will spend the first phase of recovery at Jon and Tiffany Rietema, her brother and sister-in-law. They live near the hospital and her new doctor.

We cannot thank you enough for standing with us, with all your prayers, words of encouragement, phone calls, e-mails, etc. God bless you all! We consider you all a part of our great big family! We will still try to report on Lori’s progress but the report may be fewer and further between from now on. We would still appreciate your prayer support for her.